Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are a group of chemicals which pose a significant threat to human health and the environment. In recognition of the need to improve on their management of POPs, eight countries are participating in a regional project GEF 5558: The Development and Implementation of a Sustainable Management Mechanism for Persistent Organic Pollutants. These countries include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
Component 1 of this project aims to strengthen the requisite human, institutional and infrastructural capacities for the compliance and implementation of the Stockholm Convention on POPs. One of the key project outcomes is a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) as it relates to the Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of POPs. The TNA prioritized five (5) thematic areas for training.
On Monday 22 November 2022, the BCRC-Caribbean, along with training consultants from the University of the West Indies’ Department of Chemistry, began hosting the training series “Human Health and the Ecological Risk Assessment of POPs”, which comprises thematic area five (5). These training sessions will span four (4) days, and aim to achieve the following learning objectives:
- Identify the four basic components of a risk assessment
- Describe the similarities between human health risk assessment and ecological risk assessment
- Differentiate between threshold and non-threshold contaminants
- Use basic equations to assess human exposure from different exposure pathways (inhalation, ingestion, dermal contact)
- Establish risk estimates based on exposure data
- Apply knowledge of the basic principles of human health and ecological risk assessment in the exercises presented
The training sessions are open to all fourteen (14) countries currently served by the BCRC-Caribbean, and take place on November 22, 24, 29 and December 01, 2021. On Day 1 of the training series, the BCRC-Caribbean saw over fifty (50) participants from eleven (11) countries!
For more information on Persistent Organic Pollutants, please visit: www.stopthepops.com